Celebrating a 35-Minute LifeBy Jonathan R. Whitehead<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
 
A few weeks ago, the Kansas City Star wrote about church with an illness - a mega-church with micro-accountability. 1    Last Sunday and Monday, it covered the antidote.  2 Jessica and David Weatherford were told in November that Jessica was carrying a baby boy. But they were also told that he carried an extra copy of chromosome 13 in each of his cells. This little difference had caused many of baby Zeke's organs to start forming outside of his body, and he was unlikely to survive outside the womb.Almost certainly, the Weatherfords were asked "do you want to terminate this pregnancy?" This gets asked at the slightest hint of a problem today. It implies that 'termination' is a kind of 'treatment,'  but it mostly caters to our instinct to avoid awkwardness.The Weatherfords chose to press on, and to celebrate the pre- and post-birth life of Zeke. And, perhaps even more tellingly, the picture on the front page of the Kansas City Star on Sunday was of the Weatherfords surrounded by members of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Olathe Bible Church, deep in prayer. On March 6, Baby Zeke was born at 5:23 a.m.Last month, Richard John Neuhaus noted that a leader of the Church of England recently told him that the purpose of the Church was to preserve 'the religious option' for those who wished to live it. RJN observed that cultural elites were hardly challenged by this view.Here in the middle of America, the elites are not terribly threatened by a pastor with a big media ministry. For all the hopes of evangelicalism, the result has been hundreds of churches with thousands of congregants, each paying a goodly amount to hear a professional provide tips on the good life. While thousands come to hear, it's done little to sway culture.But the Kansas City Star does stop and note a family, and a community, celebrating the coming and passing of a little boy who died at 5:58 a.m. on March 6.  3  Thirty-five minutes. The word 'awesome' is overused these days, but it's clear that the writer took this position as a cause for awe. Medicine, for example, can no longer say much about the value of a life like Zeke's - it can only offer 'relief.' Secularism cannot really explain this love of humanity, without resorting to awkward talk about personal preferences.The New Testament, however, places an extraordinary emphasis on how men live in community.   Where secularism says "my life is as precious as others; the life of others has no claim on me," Christianity says "each life is a gift of God, which must be respected and celebrated" That idea is sweet, surprising, and even convicting - it's a shame that it is absent in so many churches.1.  [ http://www.kansascity.com/255/story/35011.html] 2. [http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/70880.html]3.  http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/71826.htmlJonathan WhiteheadGraves Bartle and Marcus, LLC2600 City Center Square1100 Main StreetKansas City, MO 64105816-256-5982Www.jonthebaptist.com